Childminder in South Gloucestershire

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 136382 Inspection date 14/10/2009 Inspector Valerie Fane

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Type of setting Childminder to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 08456 404040, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

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Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 08456 404040 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Introduction

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

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Introduction

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B.

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Introduction

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the childminding

The childminder was registered in 1996. She lives with her husband and children aged 15 and 12 in Wickwar. The whole of the property is used for childminding. Accessibility to the premises is up one step. There is a fully enclosed garden available for outside play. The childminder is able to take and collect children from local schools and pre-schools. The family have no pets.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of six children under eight years at any one time, of whom no more than three may be in the early years age range. There are currently four children attending who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), all of whom attend on a part-time basis. The childminder also offers care to children aged over five years to 12 years. She is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. She provides funded early education for three and four-year- olds.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children have a wonderful time with the childminder and make excellent progress in their learning and development because she plans and provides an exciting range of play opportunities for each child based on their individual interests. She works very closely with their parents to ensure that her practice is inclusive and that she has a detailed knowledge of their individual needs. Children have superb opportunities for fresh air and exercise because they make regular use of the childminder's garden and also go on frequent outings to places of interest that stimulate their enthusiasm and learning. The childminder is totally committed to continuous improvement and goes on an abundance of training courses to ensure that her practice is fully up-to-date. She has completed a comprehensive self- evaluation of her provision and has used this to identify specific areas for the future development of her already exceptional practice. Her practice is

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

underpinned by generally comprehensive policies and procedures that are very effective in practice and are shared with parents.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 improving the written child protection policy to include information about the action to be taken in the event of an allegation of abuse against the childminder or her family. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children are safeguarded extremely well because the childminder has a very secure knowledge of the possible signs of abuse and the procedures she would follow should she have concerns about children in her care. She is fully aware of what she must do if an allegation were to be made against her or a member of her family but she has not included this aspect of safeguarding in her otherwise comprehensive written policy. Children receive excellent care in a home that is totally safe and secure because the childminder has carried out detailed risk assessments and has identified and minimised or eliminated any possible hazards. She also completes a robust risk assessment for each outing. She has met the recommendation made at the last inspection because she has confirmed that the glass cabinet is made of toughened glass.

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the early years provision

Children thrive because the childminder provides a stimulating and very well- resourced learning environment for their play both indoors and outside. She is fully committed to attending an abundance of training to ensure that her practice is completely up-to-date. For example, she has recently attended many courses relating to a very broad range of aspects of the EYFS and a course on 'Autistic spectrum disorders' to enhance her ability to care for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. She welcomes all children and their families to her provision and also provides excellent support for children's awareness of our diverse society. She has a very clear vision for her provision of high quality childminding and she has completed an exceptionally detailed self-evaluation. This identifies her undoubted strengths and supports her total commitment to ongoing improvement because she also has clearly defined areas for future development.

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the early years provision

For example, she has recently submitted a grant application for funding to enable her to extend her range of technology toys with equipment such as 'bee bots'.

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the early years provision

Children benefit from excellent continuity of care because the childminder works extremely closely with their parents or carers. She shares her comprehensive and effective policies and procedures with them and obtains as much information as possible about each child before she begins minding. She gains this through a written information sheet and conversations with parents during home visits and settling-in sessions. Children are very well-placed to continue their learning at home because parents are fully aware of what they are learning. Parents contribute to children's assessments and planning sheets and they have regular access to children's learning journeys. These are a wonderful record of children's time with the childminder and include many photographs with notes of what children are learning from the different activities. Children who also attend other EYFS provision thrive because the childminder works very closely in partnership

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the early years provision

with the relevant school or nursery. For example, when children are starting schools she meets with the teacher and is involved in children's initial assessments. The childminder is not currently caring for any children with special educational needs and/or disabilities but she fully understands the importance of partnership working with outside agencies to provide the best possible support for such children. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Children are very enthusiastic learners so they thoroughly enjoy interesting and well-planned activities both indoors and outside that enable them to make outstanding progress towards the early learning goals. This is because the childminder carries out detailed observations and assessments of children's progress and uses these to plan and provide individual learning plans and activities based on their personal interests that support their particular learning needs extremely well. The activities also support their development of an excellent range of skills for the future.

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and outcomes for children

Children gain excellent awareness of healthy lifestyles because they spend plenty of time outside. They love going on frequent exciting outings to places such as a local zoo. They see different animals and learn about the environments they come from. They learn about problem solving because they find out how monkeys can swing between trees. They develop numeracy skills because they count the number of ducklings on the pond. They develop communication skills because they talk about how the animals look and feel and the different sounds they make. They go to the butterfly forest and learn about the life cycle of the butterfly and develop literacy skills because they match what they have seen to an information card. Children learn lots about healthy eating through a wide variety of very interesting activities. They eat healthy snacks and teas provided by the childminder. They help to grow vegetables such as beans, tomatoes and peppers. They sow the seeds,

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and outcomes for children

water them, watch them grow, harvest the crops and prepare and eat the produce or take it home to share with their families. They make fruit kebabs and older children enjoy cutting the pieces of fruit and sticking them on skewers. They talk about where different fruits come from and read stories such as 'Handa's surprise' to reinforce their understanding.

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and outcomes for children

Children have superb opportunities to develop their awareness of diversity. For example, they visit a mosque to celebrate Ramadan and afterwards they go to an Asian supermarket. They look at the different types of fruit and vegetables on sale and talk about how the shopkeepers prepare the meat according to their beliefs. Back home children of all ages help to make chapattis. Babies enjoy exploring the texture of the dough and try to use a rolling pin. Older children roll out the dough to make their own chapattis. They enjoy eating them at snack time and have chicken korma for dinner.

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and outcomes for children

Children develop a very good awareness of their personal safety. They share books with the childminder on subjects such as their bodies and their emotions. They learn to express emotions because they talk about what makes them happy or sad. Older children are very confident in their personal care and understand the importance of their own privacy. Children behave extremely well because the childminder is an excellent role model and has high expectations for their behaviour. Older children willingly share toys with the babies and they are involved in agreeing the house rules.

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and outcomes for children

Indoors children have plenty of time for free play and enthusiastically ask for toys This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 such as the play dough. Pre-school children smell the dough and discuss smells such as ginger that are new to them. They use tools such as cutters and rolling pins competently to design and make their own dragon with wings and a tail. Babies enjoy feeling the texture of the dough and take interest in the sparkly glitter in the dough. They make good progress with their physical development because the childminder provides equipment such as baby walkers when they are ready to learn to walk. They use simple technology from an early age because they have great fun working out how to press the buttons on the activity walker to make different noises. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement

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and managed?

The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 1 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers

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Stage

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 1

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Stage

procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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